San Jacinto News Times - Local News
Copyright 2012 - Polk County Publishing Company

Father pleads guilty to murdering son, wounding daughter to be sentenced

COLDSPRING – A Montreal father will have his punishment set exactly two years and one day after he killed his son and shot his daughter several times Dec. 13, 2010, at a friend’s home where they were staying on Red Bird Lane in Holiday Shores. According to San Jacinto County Criminal District Attorney Richard Countiss, Predrag Perisic, 57, pled guilty on Oct. 4, 2012, to murder and to aggravated assault on a family member with a deadly weapon, both first degree felonies. “To my surprise, he pled guilty and agreed to let the judge set the punishment,” Countiss said. The punishment hearing is set for December 14, 2012, in the 411th Judicial District Court, San Jacinto County. “During the hearing each side can present evidence at the sentencing hearing that can assist the judge in deciding what the sentence will be,” Countiss said. Countiss, who said in February 2011, following Perisic’s indictment, that he would seek the death penalty if possible said last week, “My goal from the outset has been to convict him and get a sentence of sufficient length so he will never get out of prison.” A San Jacinto County grand jury indicted Perisic on charges of capital murder and attempted capital murder and alternative charges of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in February, 2011. He was arrested for shooting to death his 10-year-old son Deyan Perisic and seriously wounding his 12-year-old daughter Danyela. According to Countiss, Perisic, a Serbian national, moved from Canada to the La Porte area seeking employment in the Houston Ship Channel. Countiss said Perisic and his wife were having marital problems when she filed for divorce in Montreal, Canada. Perisic was ordered by a Canadian court to deliver custody of their two children to his wife in Houston. “Instead, he took the children out of school and went into hiding,” Countiss said. A missing children’s task force located Perisic and the children in San Jacinto County at a home in Holiday Shores. “When the task force attempted to arrest him, he allegedly opened fire on the children, killing his 10-yearold son and seriously injuring his 12-year-old daughter,” Countiss said. The children were shot about eight to 12 times. Investigators recovered 12 shell casings fired from a 9 mm pistol. Members of the task force said Perisic had a black pistol in his right hand and was holding the pistol aimed at his head, asking officers to shoot and kill him on the night of the 2010 incident. Officers backed out of the hallway into the living area of the home to take cover and started speaking with Perisic. Officers and Perisic ran towards the room making contact with Perisic, removing the gun from his possession, placing him into handcuffs. Dyan was transported to Livingston Emergency Room for a gunshot to the left side of the face where he was pronounced dead. Danyela was flown by medical helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, where she recovered. According to records, Perisic was charged Nov. 5, 2010 with interference with child custody in Harris County. The comcomplaint accused Perisic of failing to return his children Nov. 3 to their mother, who was a resident of LaPorte at that time. The mother had been granted custody of the children by a Superior Court in the Province of Quebec in Canada. Perisic has been incarcerated in the San Jacinto County Jail on a $1 million bond since his arrest. Countiss said Danyela is living with her mother in Canada and continues to recover from her injuries “She has many scars on her body and emotionally, she is recovering quickly,” Countiss said.